Dear Brits,

I noticed that the 'National Institute for Clinical Excellence' (NICE) has approved Needle Fasciotomy as a treatment for DC.

If you google the full name the enter 'Needle Fasciotomy' in their search engine the info will come up. Terribly exciting stuff. Apparently it was the British Society for Surgery of the Hand that asked them to look into Needle Fasciotomy then make a decision.

Perhaps now hand surgeons in Britian will be more willing to learn the technique?

If anyone has any further info about this, please post. It would be greatly appreciated.

Glenda

Dear Chris,

Good grief, how disheartening. Well I'm glad you found us and found NICE - hopefully more Brits will do the same and eventually NA will find it's way to your shores.

The observer

Christine,

You are so right that it is proving almost impossible to get this procedure up and running in the UK. I have also contacted my PCT, only to be told this procedure has been done for several years in the UK. Why then did I have to go to France I ask! When pressed for names of practitioners however, they were NOT so forthcoming. They did come up with someone entirely out of my area (to be honest it is probably as easy for me to get to France!). This particular person sent me an incredibly curt reply (after chasing him up 3 times, saying that no, he had not been trained in France, implying that he did not need to. (Dr. Eaton clearly thought it of value!). Also he reiterated that NA was only suitable in certain circumstances. How CAN they say this when I have evidence of both outcomes and one is perfect, one is far from such. Personally, I think there are other reasons for their reluctance to offer it here. Even from a public funding point of view, why do they insist on performing surgery when at least they could try the less invasive procedure first? Then, if NA really was not suitable, then surgery would be an option.

I am quite a tenacious person but I must admit I have been really disheartened by any contact I have had with the local PCT and the Department of Health, though I do not intend to give up yet.

I think it is a good idea to spread the word in general, particularly with any health professionals. Really, most people have not even heard of NA. My GP was stuck for words when I showed her my hands and the result I had from the treatment in France. I have to say from the results I have had so far I feel more confident going back to France if I need further treatment. It is a sorry state of affairs and reflects very badly on our country in general. Goodness knows what the French doctors must think of this archaic attitude.

In the absence of treatment in the UK, we need to get an E112 and a letter from a NHS consultant to get a referral to France and reimbursement
However, if you look at the new leaflet Health Advice for travellers available with the E111 from Post Offices there is an interesting paragraph which indicates that following decisions by the European Court of Justice and domestc courts, EU citizens can go for treatment in other European countries without an E111 or E112 and then claim reimbursement. This is in fact what Dr Lermusieux said to me.
However if you go down this route (which I did) the DoH advises us to take our own legal advice! This seems to me to indicate an interesting loophole we should exploit.
Are there any lawyers with Dupuytrens out there?